Container traffic through Valenciaport grew strongly in the first half of 2024, especially on routes to the Red Sea, Baltic and Australia.
Valenciaport (Image: Valenciaport/Phaata)
The container sector remains the main strength of Valenciaport, accounting for 72% of total cargo, including bulk cargo, and 78% excluding bulk cargo.
In the first half of the year, the Spanish port handled 2,708,318 TEU, up 14.05% year-on-year.
The Red Sea, the Baltic States and Australia were the destinations that recorded the strongest growth in traffic with Valenciaport in the first six months of 2024. From January to June, container volumes between Valencia and Red Sea ports increased by 65%, with the Baltic States by 43% and with Australia by 25%.
These increases highlight the port’s connectivity and global stature, positioning Valencia, Sagunto and Gandia as gateways to economic regions around the world.
In addition, China, the United States, Italy and Turkey remain Valenciaport’s main trading partners. More than 12 million tonnes of cargo were traded with these countries this year (3.73 million tonnes with China; 3.58 million tonnes with Italy; 2.72 million tonnes with the United States; and 2.21 million tonnes with Turkey). The port’s role as a global distribution hub for import-export and transshipment traffic has boosted trade with Egypt by 78%, with Greece and Saudi Arabia by 84% and 58% respectively in the first six months of the year.
Overall, 40.86 million tonnes of cargo passed through the ports managed by the Valencia Port Authority (PAV) in the first half of 2024, up 6.95% year-on-year. This figure includes 3.18 million tonnes of bulk cargo, 8.18 million tonnes of non-containerized general cargo and 29.49 million tonnes of containerized cargo.
In terms of vehicle traffic, Valenciaport's terminals recorded 316,769 vehicle movements, down 3.27% year-on-year.
SITC schedule for routes from Ho Chi Minh to Intra-Asia countries such as China, Japan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Korea,... in Aug/2024 (Download excel file).
Coming Ho Chi Minh from 2009, we began by the name SITC Container Lines – HCM Branch,
We growing up day by day and New SITC Container Lines Viet Nam have just established from Oct 2019 is a certainly result for our efforts , we are the joint venture limited company between SITC INTERNATIONAL AND SEA & AIR FREIGHT INTERNATIONAL.
Our business scope covers freight forwarding, and shipping agency. With the aim of providing high efficiency and high quality logistics service to customers in intra-Asia market, we provide special service upon client’s particular demand. New SITC Viet Nam has gradually become the first choice of customers in Vietnam under our continuous hard working.
New SITC Container Lines Viet Nam has over 19 services served via Cat Lai Port and 1 service at the Cai Mep terminal, and 1 service at TCHP exported more than 10 countries and 36 ports.
We take utmost care to ensure the safe transportation of your cargo. We are also committed to provide a safe working environment for our staff at both sea and landside when guarding and transporting your goods.
Contact New SITC Container Lines - Hochiminh Branch at here: www.sitc.com
Source: PHAATA / NEW SITC CONTAINER LINES VIETNAM CO.,LTD
Phaata is a marketing partner for New SITC Container Lines (Vietnam)
Sea-Intelligence found that container shipping lines are optimistic about the 2024 peak season, with plans for high capacity deployment and low levels of vessel abandonment on the Asia-North America and Asia-North Europe routes.
The container shipping market has been experiencing a peak since early May with high freight rates that have continued for nearly three months. Looking at the vacancy levels and capacity deployment plans that carriers have planned for the remaining weeks of Q3 can provide us with a snapshot of carriers’ confidence in the upcoming peak season in 2024.
The following chart from Sea-Intelligence illustrates the percentage of scheduled vacancies for the remainder of the peak season (weeks 29-39) for two major East/West trades: Asia-West Coast North America and Asia-North Europe.
For the Asia-West Coast North America trade, carriers have planned to keep 3.9% of their total capacity vacant. This is roughly in line with the pre-pandemic average and 2020 levels, although significantly lower than during the pandemic years, when skips were necessary due to port congestion.
Capacity growth for the same week in 2024 is forecast to be 24.6% higher than in 2023 and 10.2% higher than in 2020, which was the highest deployed capacity year in TEU terms.
“Given this strong capacity growth and the relatively low blank sailings level, it suggests that the carriers are bullish for the peak season on this trade lane,” commented Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence.
On the Asia-North Europe trade, unused capacity is expected to be 5.9% over the next 11 weeks, just above 2020 and the pre-pandemic average, although the difference from 2020 is not as large.
There is no year-on-year growth in deployed capacity in 2024. However, in 2023, the annual capacity growth on the trade is 13.1%, which is not only high compared to historical benchmarks but also too high for the level of demand on the trade (as evidenced by falling freight rates).
Murphy pointed out, “The fact that carriers are willing to maintain that level of elevated capacity on Asia-North Europe in 2024, coupled with the relatively low level of blank sailings, indicates the carriers have a confident strong outlook for the peak season on Asia-North Europe.”
Nearly all services from the top 10 container shipping lines have diverted via the Cape of Good Hope and the escalation of Houthi attacks will have less impact, according to analyst Linerlytica.
Container ship CMA CGM (Photo: Marcus Hand)
Among the leading container ship operators, only CMA CGM continues to transit Suez, with a service of 11 vessels, ranging from 9,000 to 11,000 TEU, all operated by CMA CGM with consortium partners Ocean Alliance, COSCO Shipping, OOCL and Evergreen participate in operating this service.
“Any further escalation of the Red Sea crisis would have a limited impact on the container markets as only 14% of the ships currently deployed on the Asia- Europe trade are using the Suez Canal,” Linerlytica said.
The analyst breaks down that in terms of total capacity, these vessels account for only 4% of the total 7.48 million TEU deployed on these services.
According to Linerlytica, only 72 of the 513 ships currently operating on the Asia-Europe trades are still using the Suez Canal and they are mainly small operators based in China, Russia, Singapore, Turkey and UAE.
The analyst said that rising tensions in the region, after Yemen attacked Tel Aviv with drones and Israel retaliated at Hodeidah, have not changed container ship operations in the Red Sea region.
All major carriers on the Asia-Europe trade have diverted their vessels past the Cape of Good Hope, with the exception of CMA CGM as they continue to operate 11 vessels for the Phoenician Express (BEX2) service on the Asia-Mediterranean route via the Suez/Red Sea route.
The Phoenician Express (BEX2) service calls at ports in China, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and transits the Suez Canal to call at Adriatic ports in Italy, Slovenia and Croatia as well as Lebanon, Egypt and the UAE.
The decline in the number of container ships transiting the Suez, along with ships from all major sectors, bulk carriers, oil tankers and gas tankers, has had a major impact on the Suez Canal Authority (SCA)’s revenue.
Last week, SCA reported a $2.2 billion drop in revenue for the fiscal year ending April 2024, compared with $9.4 billion in revenue the year before.
According to SCA head Osama Rabie, the number of ships transiting the canal in 2023/2024 fell to 20,148, compared with 25,911 the previous year.
The Suez Canal is an important source of foreign currency for Egypt, and authorities have tried to increase its revenue in recent years, including an expansion in 2015, Reuters reported.
However, that source of income is unlikely to recover in the near future as the conflict in Gaza threatens to spread to Lebanon and Yemen as regional groups supporting the Palestinians are increasingly active.
Spot ocean freight rates have decreased slightly after two and a half months of continuous increases, signaling that freight price pressure may have passed its peak.
(Source: The DCN)
A major IT system disruption caused by a CrowdStrike update led to thousands of flights being delayed or canceled worldwide over the weekend as airport and airline systems were paralyzed.
While many - but not all - were able to resume operations relatively quickly, delays are expected in affected shipments as the backlog clears. Although some container ports and shipping lines also experienced outages, the impact on shipping was negligible. Houthis in Yemen continued their attacks on boats in the region last week, including a deadly attack on an oil tanker.
The militant group's deadly drone attack in Tel Aviv also marked an escalation in the conflict, including retaliatory air strikes by Israel, and raised some concerns about the possibility of expanding the Houthi target area. But with most container shipping lines avoiding the Red Sea since December, there will not be much impact on ocean shipping.
Congestion at Asia's major container hubs is not as bad as it was a few weeks ago but is still a factor reducing capacity and causing delays, including redistributing ships - and congestion - to other ports in the region, now including Taiwan.
Even with this congestion, there are signs that conditions on the main East-West routes are easing, with reports of vessel occupancy rates falling and freight rates falling after two and a half months of increase. Prices on these routes fell 1% to 4% last week to remain very high, but the decline may signal that the pressure on rates has passed its peak.
This easing of pressure may be due in part to major carriers and smaller new entrants adding capacity to trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe services as demand and spot prices increased sharply in the past two months.
But if peak season pressure begins to ease earlier than usual, it may also be because a large portion of peak season cargo has been shipped in earlier in the year, both in North America and Europe in an effort to address longer delivery times due to Red Sea diversions and avoid delays later in the year and closer to holidays, moving shipments before possible labor disruptions activity at US East Coast ports and before some new tariffs were implemented in July and August.
The decrease in freight rates will be welcome news for shippers. However, as peak season goods will likely keep demand relatively elevated into September and congestion remains an issue, a gradual decline is more likely than a sharp drop as demand eases.
And as long as the Red Sea diversions continue, we should not expect prices to fall below the levels seen during the sharp demand drop in March and April when prices remained more than double what they were 2019. For many other regions, though – including intra-Asia, the Middle East, South Asia and parts of Africa – carriers continue to announce significant GRI and Peak Season Surcharge increases, supported by some capacity changes to key routes from Asia as prices soared.
As demand eases on major trade routes, capacity will gradually be shifted back to these lower-volume shipping routes and prices will begin to decline there as well. In the air freight sector, B2C e-commerce demand is expected to keep volumes and rates from China elevated throughout the typically slow season and into the peak season of Q4.
Freightos Air Index rates out of China dipped slightly to US$5.34/kg in North America and were level at US$3.38/kg in Europe last week, with both well above typical summer rate levels. With prices already elevated in Q3, rates are likely to climb well above peak season norms when demand increases in Q4.
International logistics and container shipping market update on Asia, Europe and North America routes in the week 29/2024.
International shipping and logistics market update - Week 29/2024
Drewry’s World Container Index for the week of 28/2024 increased slightly by 1% compared to the previous week, to 5,937 USD. This freight rate index increased 286% compared to the same week last year and was 318% higher than the 2019 average before the pandemic (1,420 USD).
Drewry’s World Container Index Week 29/2024 (Photo: Phaata | Source: Drewry)
1. Asia - Northern America route
Ocean freight rates from Asia to the West Coast of North America in week 29/2024 decreased to 7,746 USD/FEU, equivalent to a decrease of 2.09% compared to the previous week, an increase of 14.15% compared to the previous month, according to Xeneta data.
The market is entering the peak season, demand is still strong and is estimated to exceed last year's cargo volume on transpacific routes. Shipping lines have successfully implemented a General Rate Increase (GRI) in early July for spot rates on all ports of origin from Asia to North America.
For spot rates, shipping lines have successfully implemented the General Rate Increase (GRI) for July on all gateways in Asia based on the peak conditions we are seeing this month. Shipping lines have adjusted rates to the East Coast twice as much as to the West Coast (WC) to manage the massive booking intake. Phaata.com forecasts that rates will be extended into the second half of July.
For fixed rates of long-term contracts, carriers apply Peak Season Surcharge (PSS) from July 1st. The price increase in early July marked another increase in sea freight rates. Phaata.com forecasts that rates will be extended into the second half of July.
There are many blank sailings due to the impact of routes passing through the Cape of Good Hope and port congestion in Asia and North America. Many premium services from shipping lines guarantee fast service and ensure equipment and space on board, while other carriers try to reduce the backlog in Asia with additional loaders. With additional loaders to the Pacific Southwest (PSW), the situation is improving week by week, while the East Coast (EC) remains heavily overbooked.
Services from Asia to North America have been nearly full in July. Routes from Vietnam and South/East China (Yantian/Shanghai/Ningbo) to the US are particularly scarce.
Shippers are expected to have a very difficult peak season and are trying to overcome the uncertainties.
Freight rates from Asia to North Europe in week 29/2024 continued to increase sharply to 8,473 USD/FEU, equivalent to an increase of 4.92% compared to the previous week, an increase of 25.04% compared to the previous month, according to Xeneta data.
Spot rates increased very strongly again at the beginning of July, with an increase of $1,500-2,000/40' container. The capacity of shipping lines cannot fully meet the current shipping demand, while many ships are expected to be canceled in July and August.
Demand continues to increase strongly and freight rates increase sharply again. The increase in shipping demand is not only driven by consumer demand but also by importers adjusting to increase inventory due to longer than expected delivery times. Shippers are expected to continue shipping as soon as possible to avoid further delays. THE Alliance will return to near full capacity in August.
Equipment shortages and port congestion in Asia are improving, but on-time performance is still less than 50% (according to the latest Sea-Intelligence report). There are 10 blank sailings announced for the Asia-North Europe route in the second half of July and August.
Floating rates increased again in the second half of July (by $500-800 per 40-foot container). Vessels remain full as capacity cuts and bookings take effect, and customers are still looking for earlier bookings to mitigate cargo delays.
Premium service options are still available to ensure that goods are loaded on earlier departures with higher equipment priority, which can mitigate the risk of delays or no equipment.
Freight rates from North America (West Coast) to Asia in week 29/2024 decreased to 714 USD/FEU, equivalent to a decrease of 2.33% compared to the previous week, an increase 3.48% compared to the previous month, according to Xeneta data.
Ocean freight rates for Q3 are trending up on US export routes due to rising demand in global container markets.
Congestion at critical transshipment hubs is reducing effective capacity for US exporters.
To ensure smooth exports, Phaata.com recommends booking 3-4 weeks in advance for shipments loading at a coastal port, and 4+ weeks in advance for shipments loading at an inland rail point.
Freight rates from North Europe to Asia in week 29/2024 continued to decrease to 487 USD/FEU, equivalent to a decrease of 1.02% compared to the previous week, a decrease of 21.70% compared to the previous month, according to Xeneta data.
CSP Abu Dhabi container terminal invested by China Cosco Shipping has reached an important milestone of 5 million TEU thanks to the addition of new services.
CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal (Source: Cosco Shipping)
The Chinese-operated CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal, which opened in December 2018, has ramped up new services this year to boost cargo throughput.
This container terminal, located at Khalifa Port, provides more than 20 international services connecting to 60 ports and six additional routes this year have increased throughput by 35%. These new services have helped the container terminal surpass the milestone of handling 5 million TEUs since opening in December 2018.
Last year, the container terminal deployed the first autonomous truck system in the Middle East with six such vehicles to load and unload goods.
"Looking ahead, Cosco Shipping Ports is committed to enhancing the Middle East hub port, developing intelligent port solutions, upgrading automation, and promoting green, low-carbon operations," China Cosco Shipping said in An announcement.
Spot container freight rates have leveled off over the past week after a period of sharp increases.
The Drewry World Container Price Index (WCI), which has seen double-digit weekly percentage increases recently, was up just 1% week-over-week on July 11 at $5,901 per FEU.
The Shanghai Container Freight Index (SCFI) fell 1% to 3674.86 points on July 12 from the July 5 level.
The question now is whether the price increase is simply on hold, or is this a sign that spot container freight rates are stabilizing.
Although spot container freight rates are at extremely high levels, they are still well below the peak levels seen during the pandemic. Drewry's WCI is about 43% lower than its peak of $10,377 per FEU in September 2021. Overall, analysts say rates are unlikely to reach their Covid-era peaks.
However, the signs this week were less positive as severe storms off the coast of South Africa forced container ships transiting the Cape of Good Hope to stop to avoid Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. The 18,000 TEU CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin lost 44 containers at sea on July 9 while off the coast of South Africa.
Regarding the upcoming forecast, Drewry commented: “Drewry expects freight rates to remain high until the end of the peak season.”
Maersk Air Cargo marked a historic milestone when it became the first Danish airline to own a Boeing 777 aircraft, improving transport capacity and operational efficiency on the Europe - China route.
Maersk Air Cargo (MAC), operating under A.P. Moller – Maersk, has taken delivery of the first of two new Boeing 777F aircraft, marking a historic milestone by becoming the first Danish airline to own a Boeing 777.
The handover ceremony took place at Boeing headquarters in Seattle, USA. Maersk's first flight of the Boeing 777F arrived at its home base in Billund, Denmark on Saturday, July 13.
This acquisition marks a major step forward for Maersk's air cargo customers in China and Europe, delivering greater capacity and operational efficiency.
The two Boeing 777F aircraft will initially serve Maersk's existing Europe-China route with three flights per week, which will later be expanded to six flights per week.
In addition to increasing capacity on direct routes, these aircraft will ensure reduced transport and handling times, improving service quality at both departure and destination points.
Maersk ordered two 777Fs in November 2021 as part of its fleet modernization strategy. Delivery of the second aircraft is expected to take place at the end of the third quarter of this year. With these additions, Maersk Air Cargo will manage a fleet of two Boeing 777Fs and 20 Boeing 767Fs under its ownership and control.
The Boeing 777F boasts a range of up to 9,200 km (4,970 nautical miles) and can carry a maximum payload of 102,000 kg. The aircraft's main deck can accommodate pallets up to three meters high and all cargo decks are equipped with temperature control systems.
The onboard network allows for potential connectivity for future cargo. Maersk chose the GE90 engine for its 777F, recognized as the most powerful and reliable commercial jet engine in the world.
In addition to its owned and controlled fleet, Maersk also carries a significant portion of its air cargo on commercial flights operated by other airlines.
Through Maersk.com's state-of-the-art air cargo booking engine, customers can select and book directly from more than 70,000 airport pairs spread across 90 countries, with instant pricing and value services increased options.
Maersk Air Freight is in the top 20 global air freight forwarders and in the top 10 in Germany and the Netherlands.
"We are delighted to take this important delivery and upgrade our fleet with two of the largest and most reliable freighters available on the market. With this step we are entering the premier league of cargo aviation. The B777F can transport more than double of payload on each flight compared to our 767Fs, and it is the most fuel-efficient aircraft in the world with the GE90 engines," said Lars Jordahn, head of Maersk Air Cargo.
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